Life’s Lottery!

A traumatic accident to Casey is very professionally dealt with.

Our nine dogs are divided into two groups. One group lives in the kitchen/dining-room area (Casey, Paloma and Ruby) and the other dogs in the living-room/bedroom area (Pharaoh, Sweeny, Pedy, Oliver, Cleo and Brandy).

These two groups are separated by a gate, as seen here with Pharaoh resting on his bed and Casey at ease just on the other ‘kitchen’ side.

Both Jean and I go between the two areas via the gate many times daily.

Last Sunday evening, as Jean was going to the kitchen, Casey stuck his head through one of the vertical spaces in the gate and must have become stuck albeit what then happened was upon us in a flash. For Brandy grabbed the left-hand side of Casey’s face with his own jaw and the two dogs were locked together. It was a bit of a struggle to separate Brandy from Casey and when we took a look at Casey’s face it was clear that there was a laceration along his lower, left-hand lip. However, he did not appear to be in pain and we all proceeded to bed.

On the Monday morning after I had returned from my bike ride with a local group of neighbours I queried with Jean whether or not we should just check that Casey wasn’t too badly injured despite the fact that Casey was showing no signs of discomfort. Nevertheless, his wound was not a pretty sight and a quick call to our neighbour Jim Goodbrod, who is also a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), resulted in Jim saying to bring Casey round to his place then and there.

We are glad that we did for Jim quickly discovered that the laceration was not only to Casey’s lower lip but that much of his gum below the gum line along Casey’s teeth had been torn away exposing the jaw bone. Jim said that this required specialist attention and had no hesitation in recommending Southern Oregon Veterinary Speciality Center (SOVSC) in Medford, about 40 miles to the South. Jim went inside his house and made an appointment for us to take Casey to SOVSC for 2pm that afternoon.

We had previously been to SOVSC with Hazel and were impressed with their level of expertise and experience and the fact that they were open twenty-four hours every day of the week!

By the time we arrived Casey had been allocated to be seen by Dr. Adam Reiss, DVM, and very soon after arrival we were shown into a side room awaiting Dr. Reiss’s medical assistant.

Dr. Reiss then arrived and explained that Casey’s lip and gum would require suturing under a general anesthetic but that they could fit it in that afternoon albeit Casey would not be ‘back on his feet’ until 6pm at the earliest. Of course, we agreed and shortly thereafter Casey quietly and calmly was led away by Dr. Reiss’s assistant.

Jean and I then went the short distance to the centre of Medford, did a bit of shopping, had an early dinner and returned to SOVSC shortly before 6pm.

While we were waiting for news I was interested to read a prominently displayed sign setting out what constituted a veterinary specialist. (I’ve included the image at a larger size to make it easier for you to read it.)

At Southern Oregon Veterinary Specialty Center, we understand the special bond between a pet and their human family. Our team of highly trained doctors, certified technicians and support staff partner with your family veterinarian to provide specialized diagnostics, surgery and emergency care for your pet upon a referral or emergency basis. Our clinic is staffed 24 hours-a-day, 7 days a week, to receive emergency cases and to monitor our critical care patients. The clinic’s board-certified veterinary specialists and staff are committed to providing exceptional compassionate care utilizing state-of-the-art technology and treatments.

The relationships we have with partner veterinarians are vital to the success of treating your pet. We will keep them apprised of the patient’s status to provide a smooth and cohesive experience.

Jim Goodbrod speaks highly of the Center.

Dr. Reiss duly came out to speak with us and explained that all had gone well although Casey was still groggy but back on his feet. Despite the smiling face Dr. Reiss looked pretty tired. Not surprising when one reflects that the time was well past 6pm.

In an earlier conversation with some of the staff it was reported that, on average, some thirty animals were seen every day!

That’s commitment to the cause in any language!

Then it wasn’t long before our dear Casey was being led back into the front waiting area.

To be followed moments later by the assistant (apologies for not making a note of her name) setting out the details of how Casey had to be cared for over the coming hours and days.

The verbal guidance was supported by extensive notes.

Then it was a case of yours truly paying for all the services that had been provided for Casey and time to go home.

The car was rearranged to give room for Casey to sit on the rear seats with Jean next to him. I took the opportunity to take a photograph of the two of them that showed clearly the extent of the suture and the drain that had been inserted into Casey’s mouth.

It was beyond me to comprehend how Casey was so nonchalent to what in any human’s experience would have been hurting big time.

An hour later we were all home and getting dogs, cats and horses fed a lot later than normal.

Miracle of miracles Casey made it comfortably through the night and the following photograph was taken a little after 9:30 am yesterday morning.Well done all involved!

Thank you to Jim and all the doctors and staff at SOVSC but the biggest thank you of them all must go to Casey!!

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22 thoughts on “Life’s Lottery!”

Poor Casey! I hope he feels better soon. You’re lucky that such a good medical centre is within driving distance, though I think most of us would drive any distance for our dogs. Maybe extra sausages will help him recover faster?
Monty, Chicken and The Fairy 🐾

The challenge for us, John, was that having them in one group would have been a nightmare given that we came to Oregon with 14 dogs. There’s no question that there is barking between the groups and that may indicate a degree of warring.

We do have plans to move to one group once we are down to, say, 5 or 6 dogs.

Lori, firstly a very warm welcome to this place. Yes, that clinic is all of that. I was out riding with Jim Goodbrod earlier this morning and he said that in terms of equipment they outclassed many of the clinics for us humans. We couldn’t fault them.

I know that you and Jean are glad that you had a look at Casey’s mouth before infection had gotten a big jump. He indeed had a bad looking ripped mouth. It surely looks better in the last pic.

I say hooray for the specialty hospitals. I use Central Texas Specialty Veterinary Hospital in south Austin and also the sister hospital In Round Rock, Texas. I hire a wonderful young woman to drive my pets there since I refuse to drive I-35 now. It’s a good 80 mile trip to one and the other is about 115 miles. I’ve used one or the other hospital for four cats since 2011. The specialty hospital is cheaper and as good or better than using a university veterinary school.

Ouch, that looks quite painful. It amazes me how dogs just carry on normally, in spite of some injuries or pain they may be feeling….they are stoic, not like us humans! So glad you decided to take Casey to the vet before an infection set in, so a big thank you to them. I hope he improves quickly and is back to his usual self soon.

Yes, this was the aspect that had both Jean and me flabbergasted. That Casey seemed quite unbothered by the injury immediately after it happened and then after he had come round after the operation. Stoic with a capital ‘S’!

Oh Paul sorry to hear that Casey had to go through so much.. It looked really painful.. I hope she is doing well since you wrote this post and I am catching up as always.. Sending lots of positive vibes for quick healing Paul